Accepted Manuscript

A multiscale elasto-plastic damage model for the nonlinear behavior of 3D braided

composites

Chunwang He, Jingran Ge, Dexing Qi, Jiaying Gao, Yanfei Chen, Jun Liang, Daining
Fang

PII: S0266-3538(18)31756-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2018.12.003
Reference: CSTE 7494

To appear in: Composites Science and Technology

Received Date: 21 July 2018

Revised Date: 28 November 2018
Accepted Date: 1 December 2018

Please cite this article as: He C, Ge J, Qi D, Gao J, Chen Y, Liang J, Fang D, A multiscale elasto-
plastic damage model for the nonlinear behavior of 3D braided composites, Composites Science and
Technology (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2018.12.003.

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 ACCEPTED
A multiscale elasto-plastic damage MANUSCRIPT
model for the nonlinear behavior of 3D braided composites

Chunwang Hea, Jingran Gea,b*, Dexing Qia, Jiaying Gaoc, Yanfei Chena,b, Jun Lianga,b, Daining Fanga,b*
a
Institute of Advanced Structure Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
b
Beijing Key Laboratory of Lightweight Multi-functional Composite Materials and Structures, Beijing Institute of

Technology, Beijing 100081, China

c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60201, USA

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Corresponding author: E-mall: gejingran@bit.edu.cn (J. Ge), fangdn@pku.edu.cn (D. Fang)

Abstract

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A multiscale elasto-plastic damage model is developed to predict the nonlinear behavior of three-dimensional (3D)

braided composites. In this model, the sequential multiscale method is applied to transfer the effective properties

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from microscale to mesoscale, and from mesoscale to macroscale. The constituents at the microscale consist of fiber,

matrix and interface which are consistent with the mesoscale ones. The fiber is considered to be elastic and brittle,

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and the elastic damage model is applied to degrade the stiffness. For the epoxy matrix, a coupled elasto-plastic

damage model is proposed to integrate the effects of plasticity and damage, and furthermore the paraboloidal yield
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criterion is adopted to characterize the different types of mechanical behavior in tension and compression. The

bilinear constitutive relation based on the cohesive element is used to investigate the properties of interface. A
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user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) in the nonlinear finite element analysis software ABAQUS is written to
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implement the proposed model and determine the response for 3D braided composites under quasi-static tension. The

numerical simulations are compared with the corresponding experiments and the results show that they agree well
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with each other.

Keywords: A. Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs); B. Stress/strain curves; C. Damage mechanics; C. Finite element
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analysis (FEA); C. Multiscale modeling

1. Introduction
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3D braided composites possess several advantages over traditional composites, such as higher impact strengths,
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better damage tolerance and fatigue resistance. Therefore, they have been applied widely in many fields, e.g., engine

blades, helmet, artificial stent, etc.[1, 2]. In the past few decades, the material stiffness has been widely studied and

various satisfactory methods have been proposed to predict the stiffness properties [3, 4]. However, due to the

variability of the properties for constituents, the natural multiscale properties and the expensive experimental

expenses, it is difficult to predict the strength and reveal the damage behavior for 3D braided composites by means

of experiments alone. Therefore, a reliable analytical model needs to be established to characterize the damage

behavior for 3D braided composites, while reducing the number of experiments.

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During the manufacture process, several defects mayMANUSCRIPT
be generated due to the temperature difference from the

curing temperature to the room temperature. When subjected to external loads, the material is more likely to be

damaged which is expressed as stiffness degradation and final fracture. Meanwhile, owing to the stress concentration

around the defects, the unrecoverable plastic deformation will also occur. Thus, the mechanical properties for 3D

braided composites depend on both damage and plasticity. Neglecting either of them cannot characterize the

mechanical performance well. Some researchers have applied the elastic damage model to determine the nonlinear

material behavior for braided composites [5-7]. Wang et al. used the elastic damage model based on the fast Fourier

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transform (FFT) to investigate the progressive damage behavior for 3D braided composites [5]. The elastic damage

model was adopted to characterize the damage and failure behavior for triaxial braided composites under multiaxial

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stress state [6]. Applying the maximum principal stress criterion and combining with micro-CT, the in-plane tensile

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damage behavior of the 3D orthogonal woven composites was studied by Zeng et al. [7]. However, the effects of

plasticity for epoxy matrix was not considered in these works, while the phenomenon has been clearly observed from

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experiment [8]. On the contrary, the plastic model was used alone in some studies to investigate the nonlinear

properties for braided composites [9, 10]. Applied the J2 plastic theory for epoxy matrix, the compressive properties
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of braided composites were studied by Fang et al. [9]. Song et al. considered the inelastic deformation for matrix and

studied the nonlinear behavior of triaxial braided composites under compression [10]. However, the stiffness
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degradation for matrix material was not considered in these works. It should be noted that the nonlinear behavior of

3D braided composites is controlled by both damage and plasticity. Meanwhile, many elasto-plastic damage models
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have been proposed to characterize the mechanical behavior of concrete and unidirectional composites [11-13]. To
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the best of the author's knowledge, there are no studies focusing on the elasto-plastic damage behavior for braided

composites besides of our previous work [14]. In the previous work [14], a coupled elasto-plastic damage model was
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established to evaluate the effects of damage and plasticity, and the plastic model of epoxy matrix was based on the

von Mises yield criterion. This model could not reflect the different mechanical behavior in tension and compression
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which has been observed by experiment [15]. When the external load is applied to the braided composites, some
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matrix materials are subjected to tension and some matrix materials are under compression. Thus, an accurate

elasto-plastic damage model that can characterize the different mechanical properties of matrix material under

tension and compression needs to be established.

On the other hand, due to the natural multiscale characteristics of 3D braided composites, focusing on the

mechanical behavior at one scale cannot reveal the failure mechanism of materials. Thus, it is necessary to develop a

multiscale analysis model to capture the mechanical behavior at different scales. Dong et al. adopted a two-scale

method to predict the stiffness of braided composites with internal defects while the damage behavior was not

involved [16]. Yu et al. predicted the mechanical properties of braided composites via two-scale method (i.e.,
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mesoscale and macroscale), while the microscale MANUSCRIPT
properties and damage behavior were not considered [17]. Zhao et

al. proposed a multiscale model to simulate the impact damage of triaxially braided composites and the results

showed great agreement with experiments [18]. The multiscale analysis method is an effective way to predict the

mechanical performance for composites, and the satisfactory results of multiscale damage analysis for 3D braided

composites have not been obtained at now.

On the basis of the aforementioned argument, it is necessary to establish a model to couple the plasticity and

damage for constituents on the different scales. In this paper, a multiscale elasto-plastic damage model is proposed to

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evaluate the nonlinear mechanical performance of 3D braided composites and it is validated with the corresponding

experiment.

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2. Multiscale elasto-plastic damage model

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The mechanical properties of 3D braided composites are affected by the material inhomogeneity which may come

from multiple scales, e.g. the fiber arrangement at microscale and the braiding structure at mesoscale. Considering

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the mechanical behavior at one scale alone cannot characterize the properties accurately. The multiscale method is

predominant which can capture and transfer the valid information among different scales. Here we adopt a sequential
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multiscale method to implement the analysis, and furthermore consider three different scales, i.e. microscale,

mesoscale and macroscale. The algorithm is introduced specifically in Section 2.1. Subsequently, the constituents’
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constitutive models at different scales are established from Sections 2.2 to 2.4. Since the proposed model is realized

by finite element method (FEM), the numerical implementation is described in detail in Section 2.5. In this section,
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the constituents’ damage models are based on the continuum damage mechanics (CDM) and all constituents follow
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the hypothesis of small strains.

2.1. Multiscale algorithm

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Generally, the multiscale analysis method can be divided into two categories: the concurrent multiscale approach

and the sequential multiscale approach. The concurrent method defines the material behavior at the lowest scale and
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solves simultaneously at different scales. It leads to dramatic increases in the computer memory capacity and
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computing time, while it has the advantage that it can reflect the mechanical behavior of each scale at the same time,

and the effective properties transferring between two adjacent scales are mutual. Compared with the concurrent

multiscale method, the cost of calculation for sequential multiscale method is greatly reduced. The simulation is

carried out subsequently and the effective properties are transferred from lower scale to upper scale. It should be

noted that the material model at each scale needs to be defined [19]. The complex structure of 3D braided composites

leads to a large calculation at mesoscale, furthermore the simultaneous calculation of two scales is even less likely.

To be viable, the sequential multiscale method is adopted here.

For the 3D braided composites, there are thousands of fibers in the braiding yarn and the arrangement of fibers is
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not regular. Thus, a representative volume MANUSCRIPT
element (RVE) containing several random fibers is adopted at microscale

and the RVE contains three constituents: fiber, matrix and interface. The fiber is considered as transversely isotropic

homogeneous material, and the matrix and interface are treated to be isotropic homogeneous bodies. Various loads

(i.e. tension, compression and shear) are applied to the microscale RVE to obtain the stress-strain curves in different

main directions. Then, the homogenized results are transferred as material parameters to fiber bundle. At mesoscale,

the RVE is established with the braiding parameters (e.g. braiding angle, pitch length and width) which can be

measured. The fiber bundle, matrix and interface are considered as constituents at the mesoscale. By applying the

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uniaxial tension to mesoscale RVE, the homogenized stress-strain curve of the braided composites is compared with

the experiment, i.e. the macroscale properties.

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The overall diagram of multiscale analysis is shown in Fig. 1. Once the mechanical properties of the fiber, matrix

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and interface are given, a microscale RVE will be generated to characterize the properties of fiber bundle. Then the

homogenized stress-strain curves are employed as material properties to fiber bundle, and the mesoscale properties

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of matrix and interface are consistent with the microscale ones. The homogenized results from the mesoscale RVE

can be used to calculate the macroscale properties of 3D braided composites (e.g., a quasi-static tension,
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compression, three-point bending, etc.). Here a uniaxial tensile simulation of 3D braided composites is carried out

and validated with the corresponding experiment.

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Fig. 1. The multiscale algorithm for 3D braided composites

2.2. Elastic damage model for fiber (bundle)

The fiber and fiber bundle are considered to be transversely isotropic homogeneous materials, and the damage

model of the fiber is the same as that of the fiber bundle. Since no significant plastic deformation is observed, the

fiber bundle is considered to be elastic. Once the ultimate strength is reached, the material will be damaged by the

way of stiffness reduction. Based on the CDM, the damage variables are used to investigate the damage behavior of
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material. Here, the Matzenmiller damage tensor [20] isMANUSCRIPT
introduced to calculate the stiffness degradation for fiber

bundle. The expressions of the damaged and undamaged constitutive relations for fiber bundle are as follows:

ε f = H f (d f ) : σ f σ% f = H −f 10 : ε f (1)

where ε f is the strain tensor, σ f is the nominal stress tensor and σ% f is the effective stress tensor. H f (d f ) is the

compliance tensor with damage variables, whose matrix form is written as:

 1 νf ,12 νf ,13 
 − − 0 0 0 
(1−df ,1) Ef ,1

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E f ,1 E f ,1 
 ν 
 1 
−
f ,23
0 0 0


(1−df ,2 ) Ef ,2 Ef ,2 

 1  (2)

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 0 0 0 
Hf ( df ) =
( f ,3) f ,3
1− d E 
 1 
 s ym. 0 0 
 (1−df ,4) Gf ,12 
 

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 1
0 

 (1−df ,5) Gf ,23 

 1 
 
 (1−d ) G 
f ,6 f ,31 

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where direction 1 indicates the fiber axial direction and direction 2(3) indicates the transverse direction. The elastic
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constants of the fiber are provided by the manufacturer, and the elastic constants of fiber bundle can be obtained

from microscale simulation. Hf0 is the compliance matrix without damage which is obtained from Eq. (2) when the
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values of damage variables are equal to zero. In the damaged compliance matrix, the damage variable df,1 denotes the

fiber axial brittle fracture, and df,2, df,3 represent the inter-fiber transverse crack. df,4 and df,6 characterize the influence
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of fiber rupture and inter-fiber crack on the shear stiffness, and df,5 indicates the inter-fiber crack. It is assumed that
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the df,4, df,5 and df,6 are independent and can be written as:

d f ,4 =1 − (1 − d f ,1 )(1 − d f ,2 )
d f ,5 =1 − (1 − d f ,2 )(1 − d f ,3 ) (3)
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d f ,6 =1 − (1 − d f ,3 )(1 − d f ,1 )
To characterize the initiation and evolution of fiber damage, the damage activation function is defined as:
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F f , I = φ f ,I − r f , I ( I = 1t ,1c , 2 t , 2 c , 3t , 3c ) (4)

where the subscript I represents the stress state in each direction. φf,I is the loading function which is calculated from
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failure criterion in the effective stress space, and rf,I is the damage threshold which takes 1 as the initial value and

increases with damage evolution. The three-dimensional Hashin failure criterion [21] is used to determine the

damage initiation of fiber bundle, as defined in the expressions below:

  σ% f ,11
2 2
  σ% f ,12   σ% f ,31 
2
φ =   +   +   ≥ 1 if σ% f ,11 ≥ 0
 f ,1t
  X f ,1t   S f ,12   S f ,31 
(5)

 2
φ =  σ% f ,11 
  ≥ 1 if σ% f ,11 < 0
 f ,1c
  X f ,1c 

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 σ% f ,22 + σ% f ,33  (σ% 2f ,23 − σ% f ,22σ% f ,33 )  σ% f ,12   σ% f ,31 
2 2
φ =   + +   +   ≥1 if σ% f ,22 + σ% f ,33 ≥ 0
 f ,2( 3) t  Y f ,2t  S 2f ,23 S   
    f ,12   S f ,31  (6)

  Y   σ%   σ% f ,22 + σ% f ,33  (σ% 2f ,23 − σ% f ,22σ% f ,33 ) σ% 2f ,12 + σ% 2f ,13
2 2
f ,22 + σ f ,33
 %
φ = 
f ,2 c
 − 1   +  + + ≥ 1 if σ% f ,22 + σ% f ,33 < 0
f ,2 ( 3) c
  2 S f ,23    Y f ,2 c  
  2 S f ,23

 S 2f ,23 S 2f ,12
  

where Xf,1t, Xf,1c, Yf,2t, Yf,2c, Sf,12, Sf,23 and Sf,13 are strengths of fiber bundle (X, Y and S denote the longitudinal,

transverse and shear directions, respectively.), and the definitions of directions are same with that in Eq. (2). The

strengths of fiber are also provided by the manufacturer and the values of strengths for fiber bundle can be obtained

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from the microscale analysis.

When the damage does not occur, the value of damage activation function Ff is negative. When the Hashin failure

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criterion is satisfied, the value of Ff will be equal to zero. Similar to plastic analysis, the damage threshold rf,I must

satisfy the consistency and Kuhn-Tucker conditions:

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r&f , I ≥ 0; F f , I ≤ 0; r&f , I F f , I = 0
(7)
F& f , I = φ&f , I − r&f , I = 0

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Integrating the Eq. (7), the damage threshold for fiber bundle can be calculated:

{
r f , I = max 1, max {φ τf , I } }
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τ ∈ [0, t ] (8)

where t is the total time.

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The relation between the damage variable df and the internal threshold rf must be explicitly given as the damage

evolution criterion. The fiber bundle generally exhibits elastic brittle failure. For longitudinal tension, the linear and
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exponential damage propagation laws are used to describe the phenomenon of fiber bridging and pull-out for fiber

bundle (see Fig. 2(a)). In the other directions, the exponential damage propagation law is adopted [22] to simulate
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the stiffness degradation (see Fig. 2(b)). The damage evolution of fiber bundle is given by:

1 − d Lf,1t
exp  Af ,1t (1 − rfE,1t ) 
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d f ,1t = 1 −
rfE,1t
(9)
exp  Af , I (1 − rf , I ) 
1
d f ,I = 1− ( I = 1c, 2t , 2c,3t ,3c )
rf , I
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where A f ,1t and A f , I are the parameters to define the softening of damage, and d Lf,1t , rfE,1t are auxiliary
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intermediate parameters and the corresponding expressions can be found in the Ref. [23].

σ σ
rf,1t=1 (a) Xf,N rf,N=1 (b)

Ef
Ef

(1-df )Ef
(1-df )Ef
ε ε
Fig. 2. Damage evolution models for the fiber bundle: (a) the linear and exponential damage evolution laws and
(b) the exponential damage evolution law
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When the strain-softening behavior occurs, MANUSCRIPT
the material damage will exhibit the strain localization. This will lead

to a strong sensitivity of element size in finite element analysis because the dissipated energy decreases with mesh

refinement. In order to avoid the mesh dependence, a crack band model proposed by Bazant [24] is adopted here.

Based on this theory, the damage evolution law can be established by introducing the characteristic element length

and the fracture toughness. It is possible to regularize the computed dissipated energy:

∂G ∂d f
∞ ∞
∂G & Gf
gf = ∫0 ∂d f f ∫1 ∂d f ∂rf drf = l *
d dt = (10)

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where gf is the energy dissipated per unit volume; G, Gf are the Helmholtz free energy and the rate of energy release

for fiber bundle and l* is the characteristic length of element. The nonlinear equation Eq. (10) is solved numerically

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by the secant method, along with the expression of the damage propagation law in Eq. (9) to determine the damage

softening parameter Af. The analytical expression of Helmholtz free energy G and the numerical solution process for

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solving damage softening parameter Af are presented in Appendix A.

2.3. Coupled elasto-plastic damage model for matrix

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The experiments of epoxy resin reveal that the tensile stress-strain curve does not correspond to the compressive
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one, i.e., the behavior of epoxy matrix is sensitive to the hydrostatic pressure [15]. Several constitutive models have

been established to describe such stress states for epoxy resin (e.g., the Drucker-Prager criterion, the Mohr-Coulomb
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criterion, etc.), but none of them can agree well with experimental data, and furthermore it is not convenient for FEM

implementation because of the sharp point on the yield surface. Melro proposed that the paraboloidal criterion could
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be an alternatively constitutive model for epoxy [25]. Based on the work, this paper develops a coupled elasto-plastic
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damage model for epoxy matrix. The epoxy matrix is assumed to be isotropic homogeneous material. Generally, the

strain tensor can split into the elastic strain tensor and the plastic strain tensor, respectively:
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ε m = ε me + ε mp (11)
The expressions of the damaged and undamaged constitutive relations for epoxy matrix are as follows:

ε me = H m ( d m ) : σ m σ% m = H m− 10 : ε me (12)
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where σ m is the nominal stress tensor and σ% m is the effective stress tensor. H m (d m ) is the compliance tensor with
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damage variables, whose matrix form can be written as:

 1 
1− d −ν m −ν m 0 0 0 
 m

 1 
 −ν m 0 0 0 
 1 − dm 
 1  (13)
 0 0 0 
1  1 − dm 
Hm ( dm ) = 
Em  2(1+ν m ) 
sym. 0 0 
 1− dm 
 
 2(1+ν m )
0 
 1− dm 
 
 2(1+ν m ) 
 
 1− dm 

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where Em is the Young’s modulus; νACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
m is the Poisson’s ratio and d m is the damage variable to characterize the

stiffness degradation of matrix; Hm0 is the compliance matrix with d m = 0 in Eq. (13).

In the proposed coupled elasto-plastic damage model, the irreversible strain is caused by the plasticity alone and

the isotropic damage model is used to describe the degradation of stiffness. In other words, the plastic behavior is

only driven by effective stress which is independent from damage and vice versa. The paraboloidal yield criterion

[26] defined in the effective stress space is used to describe a smooth yield surface:

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f ( σ% ,σ c ,σ t ) = 6J%2 + 2I%1 (σ c − σ t ) − 2σ cσ t (14)
where f is the function of yield surface; σ c and σ t are the compressive and tensile yield stresses, respectively;

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I%1 is the first invariant of the effective stress and J%2 is the second invariant of the effective deviatoric stress. A

non-associated flow law is adopted to ensure negative volumetric plastic strain when subjected to hydrostatic

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pressure:

g = σ m2 + α p% 2 (15)

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where g is the plastic potential; σ m = 3 J%2 is the von Mises equivalent stress; p% = 1 3 I%1 is the hydrostatic pressure
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and the parameter α can be calculated from uniaxial tension with the expression as:

9 1 − 2ν p
α= (16)
2 1 +ν p
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where ν p represents the plastic Poisson’s ratio which is defined as ∆ε 22p = ∆ε 33p = −ν p ∆ε11p in uniaxial tension. The
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value of plastic Poisson’s ratio has been determined and considered as a constant for epoxy resin by Melro et al. [25],

then the parameter α can be calculated uniquely. According to the definition of plastic potential and the
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non-associated flow law, the plastic strain rate ε&mp takes the incremental form as:

∂g
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 2 
∆εmp = ∆λ = ∆λ  3S% + α p% I  (17)
∂σ%  3 
where ∂g is the plastic flow direction, and I is the identity tensor; ∆λ is the increment of plastic multiplier
∂σ%
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and it should satisfy the consistency conditions in loading and unloading, as follows:
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∆λ ≥ 0 g ≤ 0, ∆λ ⋅ g = 0 (18)
The yield surface is associated with tensile and compressive yield stresses which are varied in hardening process

and can be expressed as two hardening functions of the equivalent plastic strain ε mp :

σ c = σ c ( ε mp ) σ t = σ t ( ε mp ) (19)
These two piece-wise curves are obtained from experiments. The equivalent plastic strain ε mp is defined as:

1
ε mp = εmp : εmp (20)
1 + 2ν p2

To characterize the initiation and evolution of damage, the damage activation function for matrix is defined as:
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F = φ − MANUSCRIPT
r ( J = t, c)
m,J m,J m,J
(21)

where φm,J is the loading function which is calculated from failure criterion in the effective stress space, and rm,J is the

damage threshold which takes 1 as the initial value and increases with the damage evolution. Similar to the damage

model of fiber bundle, damage threshold rm,J should satisfy the consistency and the Kuhn-Tucker conditions. For

epoxy matrix, the damage initiation criterion is consistent with the paraboloidal yield criterion, while the stress is the

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strength not the yield stress, as following:

3 J%2 + I%1 ( X mc − X mt )
φm , J = (22)

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X mc X mt
where X mt and X mc are tensile and compression strengths of epoxy matrix, respectively.

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The damage mode of epoxy matrix is quite different from that of fiber bundle. It is known from the experiments

that the epoxy matrix exhibits obvious plastic deformation before failure [15]. To investigate the elasto-plastic

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damage behavior of epoxy matrix, the exponentially degrading evolution [22] is adopted, defined as the following
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expression (as shown in Fig. 3):

exp  Am (1 − rm , J )  ( J = t , c)
1
d m, J = 1 − (23)
rm , J
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where Am and rm,J are the damage softening coefficient and damage threshold for matrix. The Bazant’s crack band

model [24] is also used to avoid the dependence on mesh size in the simulation. The more analytical details are also
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presented in Appendix A.
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Em
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(1-dm)Em
C

εp εe ε
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Fig. 3. Damage evolution law of the matrix

2.4. Bilinear cohesive zone model for interface

The interface between different constituents is characterized by the bilinear cohesive zone model. The damaged

constitutive relation is defined as the expressions below:

t i = (1 − d ) K i δ i (i = n , s , t ) (24)
where d is the damage variable; tn is the normal traction and ts, tt are the shear tractions; δn is the normal separation

and δs, δt are the shear separations. It should be noted that the normal compression does not lead to the interface

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damage. It has been confirmed by Vaughan MANUSCRIPT
et al. that the interfacial stiffness should be more than 105 N/mm3 to

avoid interface embedding and guarantee the displacement continuity [27]. Thus, the values of the interfacial

stiffness Kn, Ks and Kt are supposed to be 108 N/mm3. Here the quadratic nominal stress criterion is applied to

characterize the damage initiation, as follows:

2
 σn   τs   τt 
2 2

 0  + 0  + 0  =1 (25)
 σ n  τs  τt 
where σ n0 , τ s0 and τ t0 are normal, transverse shear and longitudinal shear stresses with σ n = max(0, σ n ) . The

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tensile and shear strengths are supposed to be 50 MPa and 70 MPa and these values are taken from the Ref. [27].

Once the damage of interface is activated, the stiffness will gradually reduce to zero linearly, and the damage

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variable d increases linearly from zero to one. Here, the Benzeggagh-Kenane (BK) damage evolution based on the

fracture energy is employed [28]:

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η BK
 2Gs 
G = G + (G − G ) 
C C C C
 (26)
 Gn + 2Gs 
n s n

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where Gs and Gn are the monitored fracture energies in the normal and shear directions, respectively; GnC and
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GsC are the corresponding critical fracture energies, and η BK is the Benzeggagh-Kenane parameter. At the

microscale, the fibers are randomly wrapped in polymer matrix and they are not in contact with each other. At the
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mesoscale, the properties of cohesive interfaces within the fiber bundles are same with the properties of fiber-matrix

interface and fiber bundle-matrix interface. All the values of interface properties used in simulation are listed in
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Table 1, which are obtained by Vaughan et al. for carbon fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composites [27].
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Table 1 Material properties of interface [27]

Kn Ks
ηBK
2 2
σ n0 (MPa) τ s0 (τ t0 ) (MPa) 3 3 G nC (J/m ) G sC (J/m )
(N/mm ) (N/mm )
108 108
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50 70 2 30 1.2

2.5. Numerical implementation

A user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) in the FEM analysis software ABAQUS is adopted to implement the
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constitutive models for fiber bundle and epoxy matrix. The ABAQUS/Standard solver is an incremental method
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based on iterative solution. The implementation of UMAT for fiber bundle can be calculated step by step. However,

due to the plasticity of epoxy matrix, the implementation of UMAT for matrix is path dependent and needs to solve

the nonlinear equation.

2.5.1 Stress update algorithm for plastic analysis of matrix

In the implementation of UMAT, the variables are updated by the implicit integration of backward Euler scheme.

Considering that all variables at the nth increment have been obtained. At the beginning of the (n+1)th step, the strain

increment tensor ∆εn +1 is given and the variables need to be updated at the end of increment. The effective stress

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tensor at the (n+1)th step can be expressed as: MANUSCRIPT
σ% n +1 = H m−10 : ( ε n +1 − ε np − ∆ ε np+1 ) = σ% ntr+1 − H m−10 : ∆ ε np+1 (27)
where H m− 10 : ∆ ε np+ 1 is the stress corresponding to the plastic correction, and σ% ntr+ 1 is the trial stress expressed as:

σ% ntr+1 = σ% n + H m−10 : ∆ ε n +1 (28)

Substituting the plastic strain increment tensor defined in Eq. (17) into Eq. (27), the effective stress tensor can be

obtained:

2
σ% n +1 = σ% ntr+1 − 6G ∆λn +1 S% n +1 − K α∆λn +1 ( I%1 ) n +1 I (29)

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3
where G is the shear modulus and K is the bulk modulus. According to the consistency conditions of plasticity, the

effective stress tensor at the (n+1)th step must be located on the current yield surface, expressed as:

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6( J%2tr ) n +1 2(σ c − σ t )( I%1tr ) n +1
φ= + − 2σ cσ t = 0 (30)
(1 + 6G ∆λn +1 ) 2
1 + 2 K α∆λn +1

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The two yield stresses in Eq. (30) are varied with the equivalent plastic strain, which have been defined in Eq. (19)

and can be obtained by experiments. The increment of plastic multiplier ∆λn +1 at the (n+1)th step can be solved by

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the Newton-Raphson method and more details can be found in the literature [25].
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2.5.2 Viscous regularization for damage variables

In the implicit analysis, the strain-softening and stiffness degradation always lead to the difficulties of
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convergence. To avoid the problems, the Duvaut-Lions regularization is adopted [29]:

d& vf , I = ( d f . I − d vf , I )
1
(I = 1, 2, 3 )
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η (31)
d&mv = ( d m − d mv )
1
η
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where η is the viscous regularization parameter which indicates degree of relaxation for calculation, and d vf , I , d mv

represent the damage variables after regularization. The recurrence formula of regularized damage variable for the
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(n+1)th step is expressed as:

∆t η
d υf , I , n +1 = d f , I , n +1 + d υf , I , n ( I = 1, 2,3)
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η + ∆t η + ∆t (32)
∆t η
d mυ , n +1 = d m, n +1 + d mυ , n
η + ∆t η + ∆t
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It is well known that the results of numerical analysis are sensitive to the value of viscous coefficient. When a

larger value is chosen, the degradation of material will be delayed significantly. Compared to the time increment, a

small value η =5.0 × 10 −5 s is adopted to guarantee the convergence and the accuracy in simulation.

2.5.3 Tangent constitutive tensor and computational procedure

To ensure a fast rate of convergence for the nonlinear analysis, the tangent constitutive tensor must be defined

correctly. According to our previous work [14], the expression for fiber bundle has been deduced as follows:

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 ∂ACCEPTED
σ f ,n +1 MANUSCRIPT
C f ,t = = H −f 1 ( d υf ,n +1 ) :  I − M f ( d υf ,n +1 ) 
∂ε f ,n +1
∂H f ( d υf , n +1 ) ∆t ∂d f , I ,n +1
(33)
M f ( d f ,n +1 ) = ∑
υ
υ
: σ f ,n +1 ( I = 1, 2,3)
I ∂d f , I , n +1, η + ∆t ∂ε f , n +1
In the implicit analysis, the variable values of the (n+1)th step are obtained from the calculation of the nth step. The

strain increment is given at the beginning of each loading step and then the increments of stress and damage

variables are updated by the constitutive relation at the end of each loading step. The flow chart of fiber bundle for

calculating the (n+1)th step from the nth step is shown in Table 2.

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Table 2 Flow chart for damage constitutive model of fiber bundle
(i). Read the state variables at the nth step and give the
increment of strain ∆ ε f , n +1 :

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ε f , n +1 = ε f , n + ∆ ε f , n +1 , σ% f ,n+1 = H f 0 : ε f ,n+1
−1

(ii). Calculate the loading function and damage threshold:

φ f ,n +1 (σ% f ,n +1 ) , rf ,n+1 ( rf ,n , φ f ,n +1 )

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(iii). Calculate the damage variables:
d f ,I ,n+1 ( rf ,I ,n +1 ) , d υf ,I ,n+1 ( d f ,I ,n+1 , d υf ,I ,n )
(iv). Update the nominal stress tensor:

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σ f ,n +1 = H −f 1 ( d υf ,I ,n +1 ) : ε f ,n +1
(v). Calculate the consistent tangent tensor:
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C f , n +1 = ∂σ f , n + 1 ∂ε f , n + 1

To ensure the convergence of Newton-Raphson iterative algorithm for return mapping equation, the consistent

tangent tensor for the presented constitutive model of matrix is derived as followings:
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∂σ m, n +1 ∂σ% m, n +1
C m, t =
∂ε m, n +1
(
= H m−1 ( d mυ , n +1 ) : I − M m ( d mυ , n +1 ) : H m−10 : ) ∂ε m, n +1
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∂H m ( dm, n +1 ) υ (34)
∆t ∂dm, n +1
M m ( dm, n +1 ) =
υ
: σ n +1
∂d mυ , n +1 η + ∆t ∂ε me , n +1
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∂σ% m ,n +1
where is the consistent tangent tensor after elasto-plastic analysis and the explicit expressions are presented
∂ε m ,n +1
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in Appendix B. Table 3 shows the implementation of the coupled elasto-plastic damage model for epoxy matrix.
Table 3 Flow chart for elasto-plastic damage constitutive model of the matrix
(i). Read the state variables at the nth step and give
the increment of strain ∆ ε m , n +1 :
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ε m ,n , ε mp,n , ε mp,n , σ% m ,n , σ m ,n , rm ,n , d m ,n , d υ , ∆ε m ,n+1

m ,n
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(ii). Use the return mapping algorithm to calculate

the plastic strain and update effective stress
tensor:
σ% m ,n +1 = H m−10 : ( ε m ,n +1 − ε mp,n+1 )
(iii). Calculate the loading function and damage
threshold:
φm ,n +1 (σ% m ,n +1 ) , rm ,n +1 ( rm ,n , φ m ,n +1 )
(iv). Calculate the damage variables:
d m,n+1 ( rm,n+1 ) , d mυ ,n +1 ( d m ,n +1 , d mυ ,n )
(v). Update the nominal stress tensor:
σ m ,n+1 = H m−1 ( d mυ ,n+1 ) : ( ε m,n+1 − ε mp,n+1 )
(vi). Calculate the consistent tangent tensor:
C m , n + 1 = ∂σ m , n + 1 ∂ε m , n + 1

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3. Multiscale analysis for the 3D braided composites MANUSCRIPT
The proposed multiscale analysis method is applied to investigate the nonlinear mechanical behavior of 3D

four-directional braided composites under unidirectional tension. The numerical simulations are compared with

corresponding experiments to verify the accuracy of the proposed model.

3.1. Quasi-static tensile experiment

The 3D four-directional braided composites are manufactured by Tianjin Polytechnic University of China. The

braiding yarns are 6k T300 carbon fibers and the matrix is TDE-86 epoxy resin. To ensure the consistency of model,

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the specimens of epoxy matrix are manufactured in the same batch with specimens of braided composites. A

quasi-static tensile experiment of 3D four-directional braided composites is performed to obtain the macroscale

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properties, i.e. the stress-strain curve and damage behavior. The interior braiding angle of braided composites is 46.4°

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and the size of the specimens is 250 mm×25 mm×5 mm. All the specimens are tested at room temperature with a

tension rate of 1 mm/min. All the specimens and experimental procedures comply with ASTM D3039/D3039M-14

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standards. More experimental details can refer to the Ref. [30].

3.2. RVE model for fiber bundle

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It is known from the experiment that the braiding yarn contains 6000 fibers wrapped in epoxy resin. Generally, the

distribution of fiber filaments in fiber bundle is random so that the RVE of fiber bundle should contain several
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random fibers. Here the diameter of carbon fiber is considered to be a constant 7 µm. Four separate RVEs have been

generated to simulate the microscale properties for fiber bundle, which are topologically different but statistically
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identical (shown in Fig. 8). The effects of RVE dimensions on the simulated results and computational capacity have
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been investigated in a preliminary study in which the width of RVE should be more than ten times larger than the

fiber radius [31]. Thus in this paper, the RVEs have a transverse size of 35 µm×35 µm and a thickness of 2 µm in the
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longitudinal direction which is large enough to capture the failure modes and reduce the computational cost

simultaneously. These dimensions have been proven to be suitable and keep consistent with the reference [31]. The
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fiber volume fraction in the microscale RVE is consistent with the fiber filling factor of braiding yarn with a value of
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65% which can be obtained from the scanning electron microscope (SEM).

To confirm the periodicity of the microstructure, the mesh nodes at parallel planes must correspond to each other

i.e. periodic mesh. Hexahedra elements (C3D8R) are chosen to generate the mesh of the fiber filament and matrix

(wedge elements (C3D6) if necessary). The interface between fiber and matrix is represented by zero-thickness

cohesive elements (COH3D8), which is implemented by a Python script. The finite element model of RVE for fiber

bundle is shown in Fig. 4.

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Fig. 4. Finite element model of RVE of fiber bundle: (a) fiber, (b) matrix and (c) interface

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3.3. RVE model for 3D braided composites

According to the braiding procedure, the macro-structure of 3D braided composites presents the periodicity of

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their meso-structure. Generally, the 3D braided composites can be divided into three kinds of RVEs (i.e. internal,

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surface and corner). The surface and corner regions are ignored because their proportion of whole structure is small

compared to the internal region. The braiding yarns’ topological relations of internal cell are shown in Fig. 5(a). The

braiding yarns are in four different directions. The interior braiding angle γ , the width W and the height h can be

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measured. The mesoscale RVE of 3D braided composites is measured as 3.041 mm×2.15 mm×2.15 mm which is
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consistent with the experiment in Section 3.1. According to the geometric relationship, the relationships between

braided parameters are as follows:

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tan γ = 2 tan α
(35)
h = 2W / tan γ
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where γ is the interior braiding angle.

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Fig. 5. The geometric relations of RVE: (a) topological relationship and (b) cross section of yarns.

The yarns are straightened and deformed during the tightening process. From the microscopic observation, the

assumptions are proposed: (1) the yarns are straightened; (2) the cross section of yarn is assumed to be an octagon

(with parameter: L1, L2) with an inscribed ellipse (with parameter: a, b), as shown in Fig. 5(b). Based on the

topological relation and the shape of cross section, the relationships between braided parameter and cross section

parameter are established [17]:

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W = 4 MANUSCRIPT
2b
h = 8b / tan ( γ )
a = 3b cos γ (36)
 a 2 
L1 = 2  b 2 cot 2 γ + 2 − b cot γ  × sin γ
 sin γ 
 a2 a 
L2 = 2  b 2 + − 
 cos γ cos γ 
2

The braided parameters and RVE geometry parameters are listed in Table 4. A Python script is developed to

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establish the RVE model for 3D four-directional braided composites. In the finite element model, the mesh nodes at

parallel planes are corresponding to each other to ensure the periodicity of meso-structure. Due to the complex

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structure, the yarns and matrix are discretized by the tetrahedral elements (C3D4). The interface is discretized by the

zero-thickness cohesive elements (COH3D6), which is also implemented by a Python script. The finite element

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model contains 78,788 elements and 15,305 nodes, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The material properties of T300 and

epoxy matrix taken from Ref. [30] are listed in Table 5, and the values of fracture toughness for fiber bundle are 12.5

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N/mm and 1.0 N/mm in longitudinal and transverse directions which are obtained from the Ref. [32].
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D
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Fig. 6. The finite element model of 3D four-directional braided composites: (a) yarns, (b) matrix and (c) interface
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Table 4 Braided parameters and RVE geometry parameters

Interior braiding Fiber volume Height of Width of RVE
Size(mm×mm×mm)
angle γ (°) fraction Vf (%) RVE h (mm) W (mm)
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250×25×5 46.4 51.76 3.041 2.16

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Table 5 Material properties of T300 and epoxy matrix [30]

E1 (GPa) E2 (GPa) G12 (GPa) G23 (GPa) µ12 X t (MPa) X c (MPa)
T300
230 40 24 14.3 0.26 3528 2470
Em (GPa) νm νp X m , t (MPa) X m ,c (MPa) S m , s (MPa) g m ,t ( c ) (N/mm)
Epoxy
3.76 0.39 0.3 93 126 60 0.09
3.4. Periodic boundary conditions

To ensure the continuity of force and the compatibility of displacement for microscale and mesoscale RVEs, the

periodical boundary conditions (PBCs) is incorporated in the simulation. The expressions of PBCs for woven and

braided composites has been deduced and mathematic equations can be found in literature [33]. The PBCs in

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ABAQUS are implemented by the linearACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
constraint equations at symmetrical mesh nodes between the parallel planes.

A python script is written to apply the PBCs.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Microscale analysis

The stress-strain curves of TDE-86 epoxy matrix under uniaxial tension and compression are determined by the

experiments. Hardening curves are transformed from the stress-strain curves and used in the numerical

implementation. The value of plastic Poisson’s ratio is given from the reference [34]. In order to validate the

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proposed model, the experiment of Bisphenol-A epoxy matrix is used [15]. Applying the UMAT to a standard 3D

hexahedral element, the comparison of numerical simulation and experimental data is shown in Fig. 7. The results of

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tension and compression agree closely with the experiments. The shear stress is fitted by the tensile and compressive

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curves so that it is not perfectly consistent with experimental values. Overall, the proposed model can capture the

behavior of epoxy matrix as long as the tensile and compressive hardening curves are calibrated by experiments.
140

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Tension(Num.)
Tension(Exp.)
120 Compression(Num.)
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Compression(Exp.)
100 Shear(Num.)
Shear(Exp.)
stress(MPa)

80
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60

40
D

20
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0
0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
strain
Fig. 7. Validation of proposed model for epoxy matrix
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Applying the proposed model to the microscale RVEs, the stress-strain curves under different loadings are shown

in Fig. 8. The six sets of stress-strain curves exhibit approximately linear elastic behavior. Due to the brittleness of
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fiber, the longitudinal curves exhibit a brittle failure. As shown in Fig. 8(c), when subjected to transverse tension, the
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RVEs exhibit the interface debonding and overall fracture that is perpendicular to the load direction. For transverse

compression, shear failure occurs in the matrix and the RVEs exhibit the fracture approximately along the degree of

53 which is consistent with the experimental observations [11]. Different shear loads can lead to different shear

failure modes, as shown in Fig. 8(e)-(f). The out-plane shear causes the horizontal damage band of material and the

in-plane shear leads to a localized damage band along the diagonal direction. The six sets of stress-strain curves

averaged from four groups are used as the mechanical properties for fiber bundle and are transferred to mesoscale

calculation.

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 Damage variable
ACCEPTED
1200
MANUSCRIPT Damage variable
50
Damage variable
(c)
1600 0 1
(a) 0 1
(b) 0 1

RVE-1 1000 RVE-1 RVE-1

40
Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)
1200 800
30
7µm
7µ 600
800 7µm
7µ 7µm
7µ
RVE-2 RVE-2 RVE-2
RVE-3 RVE-3 20 RVE-3
RVE-4 RVE-4 RVE-4
400

400 10
200

0 0 0
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 0.00 0.15 0.30 0.45 0.60
Strain (%) Strain (%) Strain (%)

50 Damage variable
120 0
Damage variable
1 (d) 0
Damage variable
1 (e)
(d) 40 0
RVE-1
1 (f)
RVE-1

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RVE-1
100 40
Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)
30
80
30 7µm
7µ
7µm
7µ RVE-2 7µm
7µ
60 RVE-3 RVE-4 20 RVE-2
RVE-2 RVE-3

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RVE-3 20 RVE-4
RVE-4
40
10
10
20

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0 0 0
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
Strain (%) Strain (%) Strain (%)
Fig. 8. Stress-strain curves of the microscale RVE under different loads: (a) longitudinal tension, (b) longitudinal
compression, (c) transverse tension, (d) transverse compression, (e) out-plane shear and (f) in-plane shear. (For

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interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

4.2. Mesoscale analysis

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As can be seen in Fig. 9(a), the stress-strain curve predicted by the multiscale coupled elasto-plastic damage

model agrees well with experiments. The reason that the stiffness is slightly lower than the experiment is that only
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the interior cells are considered, and the stiffness of the surface and corner cells is greater than that of the interior

cells. During the tension process, initially, the curve keeps linear until the strain reaches 0.4%. With the damage
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evolution of constituents, the stiffness gradually degrades, showing a decrease in slope of the curve. When strain
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exceeds 0.7%, the curve begins to decrease rapidly because most of the constituents are in failure.
120 120 100
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Experiment
100
Element percentage (%)

100 Simulation 80
Yarns damage
Stress (MPa)

80 80 Matrix damage
stress(MPa)

Yarns
60
Interface damage
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60 transverse
60
40
40
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40 Yarns
20 longitudinal 20
Matrix
20
0 Interface 0
0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
strain(%) strain (%)
Fig. 9. The macroscopic stress-strain curves: (a) comparison of experiment and simulation and
(b) damage initial point and damaged element percentage
The damage initial points (marked in red circle) and the damage element percentage of constituents are shown in

Fig. 9(b). It should be noted that the damage element percentage is defined as the ratio of the number of damaged

elements to the constitutive elements number. The debonding damage of interface occurs first and fails soon. This is

because of the stress concentration at the interface caused by the squeezing of the braiding yarns. With the failure of
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the interface between yarns, the stress concentration MANUSCRIPT
spreads near the yarns’ contact region, leading to the

elasto-plastic damage for matrix. Subsequently, the fiber bundle exhibits transverse damage. As loading continues,

longitudinal damage of fiber bundle occurs extensively. Eventually, the longitudinal and transverse damage of fiber

bundle, elasto-plastic damage of matrix and debonding damage of interface cause the failure of the material. Fig. 10

shows the longitudinal and transverse damage evaluation for braiding yarns (show all yarns and one-directional

yarns). Fig. 11 shows the development of equivalent plastic strain, elasto-plastic damage for matrix and progressive

damage of the interface. The three stages (I, II and III) shown in Figs. 10-11 are illustrated in Fig. 9(b). It can be

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known from the progressive damage process that the interface between the yarns is completely failed, while the

interface between yarns and matrix is seldom failed. The elasto-plastic damage of matrix always occurs near the

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interface and yarns because of the stress concentration. For the 3D braided composites with a large interior braiding

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angle of 46.4°, the transverse damage of fiber bundle expands faster than longitudinal damage, and the final failure

element percentage of transverse damage is larger than longitudinal one.

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Combined with experimental calibration, the proposed multiscale elasto-plastic damage model can predict the

stress-strain curve of 3D four-directional braided composites, and the progressive damage and failure mechanism of
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each constituent can be presented clearly. Furthermore, this model can help to guide the design of the structure and

reduce the experimental costs, as long as the mechanical models of the constituents are established accurately.
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D
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C EP
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Fig. 10. Longitudinal and transverse damage evolution of braiding yarns. (SDV1 and SDV2 indicate the longitudinal
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damage and transverse damage of fiber MANUSCRIPT
bundle, respectively. For interpretation of the references to colour in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

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Fig. 11. The equivalent plastic strain and damage of matrix, and damage of interface. (SDV13 denotes the equivalent
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plastic strain of matrix, and SDV14 and SDEG represent the matrix damage and interface damage. For interpretation
of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
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5. Conclusions

In this paper, a multiscale elasto-plastic damage model is proposed to characterize the nonlinear behavior of 3D
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braided composites. Microscale constituents consist of fiber, matrix and interface, which are consistent with the

mesoscale ones. The elastic damage model is applied to degrade the stiffness of fiber. A coupled elasto-plastic
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damage model is proposed to integrate the effects of both plasticity and damage. A bilinear constitutive relation is
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adopted to investigate the properties of interface. Once the constitutive relations of the constituents are established,

the effective properties of fiber bundle can be obtained by applying various loads to microscale RVE. Then, the

effective properties after microscale analysis are transferred to the mesoscale. The homogenized stress-strain curve

by applying uniaxial tension to mesoscale RVE is compared with the experiment. The simulated results agree well

with the experiment and it seems that the proposed model may be useful for predicting the progressive damage

behavior of 3D braided composites.

In future, off-axis or cyclic loadings experiments would be needed to further validate the proposed model, and the

initial residual stresses due to temperature changes during curing will be considered to perfect the model. Besides, a
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three-scale simulation will be carried out MANUSCRIPT
to investigate the fracture behavior of 3D braided composites beam with a

notch when under three-point bending and it is also important to improve computation efficiency and ensure

accuracy for concurrent multiscale simulation.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (1184017) and National Natural Science

Foundation of China (11802018 and 11732002). And, the first author would like to acknowledge beneficial technical

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discussions with Dr. Xiaoming Bai.

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Appendix A. Integration algorithm to determinate the parameters AM

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For fiber bundle, the Helmholtz free energy G f is defined in the expression below:

1 σ f ,11 2
σ f ,22 2
σ f ,33 ν f ,12
2

Gf = σ f : εf = + + − σ f ,11σ f ,22
2 2 (1 − d f ,1 ) E f ,1 2 (1 − d f ,2 ) E f ,2 2 (1 − d f ,3 ) E f ,3 E f ,1
(A.1)
ν f ,13 ν f ,23 σ 2f ,12 σ 2f ,23 σ 2f ,31
− σ f ,11σ f ,33 − σ f ,22σ f ,33 + + +
E f ,1 E f ,2 2 (1 − d f ,4 ) G f ,12 2 (1 − d f ,5 ) G f ,23 2 (1 − d f ,6 ) G f ,31

For matrix, the Helmholtz free energy Gm is split into two parts: the elastic Gme and the plastic Gmp . The elastic

part Gme is related to damage behavior, and the plastic part Gmp contributes to the plastic hardening.

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Gm = Gme ( εme ,MANUSCRIPT
dm ) + Gmp ( ε mp ) (A.2)

The Helmholtz free energy of matrix can be written as:

Gm = Gme ( ε me , d m ) + Gmp ( ε mp ) = σ m : ε me + Gmp ( ε mp )

1
2
σ m2 ,11 + σ m2 ,22 + σ m2 ,33 ν m
=
2 (1 − d m ) Em
−
Em
(σ m,11σ m,22 + σ m,22σ m,33 + σ m,11σ m,33 ) (A.3)
σ m2 ,12 + σ m2 ,23 + σ m2 ,31
+ + Gmp ( ε mp )
2 (1 − d m ) Gm

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The softening parameter AM is calculated from solving Eq. (10), and the secant method is used to solve the

equation:

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2
∞ ∂G ∂dM ∞ 1−ν 23 − 2ν12ν 21  σ%M2 ∂dM
gM =∫ drM =∫   dr (A.4)
1 ∂dM ∂rM  ( M )ν12ν21  2EM ∂rN N
1 1−ν − 2 1 − d

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The integration is solved by the Simpson’s rule. It is noticed that the parameters AM should be greater than zero for

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physical meaning. According to the secant method, the iteration formula is defined as follows:

 GM  ln ( AM ) − ln ( AM )
i −1
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i

ln ( A ) = ln ( A ) − ln ( gM ) − ln  ∗ 
i +1 i i
(A.5)
 l  ln ( gMi ) − ln ( gMi −1 )
M M

M

The function gM is given by the integration of Eq. (A.4), and dependent of the parameter AM. The two initial

values are chosen to begin this iteration [22]:

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2l∗ XM2
AM1 = , AM0 = 0.5AM1 (A.6)
2EM GM − l∗ XM2
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Then, the parameter AM for fiber bundle and matrix can be determined using the above algorithm.

Appendix B. Consistent tangent operator of matrix for elasto-plastic analysis

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In the proposed coupled elasto-plastic model of matrix, the effective stress is used to couple the effects of damage
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and plasticity. The consistent tangent stiffness matrix after elasto-plastic analysis should be passed to overall

expression in Eq. (34). The formula has been derived [25], as the expression below:
AC

∂σ% m , n +1  β 
=D ep = β I 4 +  ϕ −  I ⊗ I − ρ S ⊗ I − χ S ⊗ S −ψ I ⊗ S
tr tr tr tr
(B.1)
∂εm , n +1  3 

where I 4 is the fourth-order identity tensor and the constants β , ϕ , ρ , χ and ψ are given by:

2G K 4K2α %tr 36KG(σc −σt ) 72G2 8KGα tr

β= , ϕ= − 3 I1 (σc −σt ) , ρ = , χ = , ψ= I
ζs ζp ηζ p 2
ηζ s ζ p
4 2 1
ηζ s ηζ sζ p
(B.2)
∂φ
ζ s = 1+ 6G∆λ, ζ p = 1+ 2Kα∆λ, η = −
∂∆λ

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